Episode 12 Eggheads

These people are amongst the greatest quiz players in Britain.

Together they make up the Eggheads,

arguably the most formidable quiz team in the country.

The question is, can they be beaten?

Welcome to Eggheads, the show where a team of five quiz Challengers

pit their wits against possibly the greatest quiz team in Britain,

they are the Eggheads.

And taking on the awesome might of our quiz goliaths today

are the Green Giants, this team of old school friends

quiz together at The Purley Arms in Croydon.

Let's meet them.

Hi, I'm Kush, I'm 25 and I'm a trainee lawyer.

Hi, I'm Alex, I'm 25 and I'm a caseworker for an MP.

Hi, my name's Dave, I'm 25 and I'm a management consultant.

Hi, I'm Naveed, I'm 25 and I'm a research scientist.

Hi, I'm Max, I'm 25 and I'm a solicitor.

Welcome to you, Green Giants. Good to see you.

-You're all friends, is that it?

-We are, yes.

And quiz together and how do you do in that quiz?

-We win our bar tabs, that's about the limit of it.

-But you win the quiz?

-We do all right.

-How competitive does it get?

As competitive as pub quizzes really get in Croydon.

Right, I see, you've kind of put that in perspective.

Now you're playing the creme de la creme, world quiz champions,

Brains of Britain, Masterminds, Millionaire winners.

-How does that feel, Kush?

-Slightly nerve-racking.

-OK.

But I reckon we've got a chance if we get the right questions.

All right, well, we've got slightly more than your bar tab

on offer as a reward if you should beat them today.

Every day, there's £1,000 worth of cash up for grabs

for our Challengers. However, if they fail

to defeat the Eggheads, the prize money rolls over

to the next show and that's been happening quite a bit, Green Giants.

The Eggheads have won the last 12 games.

It means £13,000 says you can't beat the Eggheads today.

First head-to-head, the first battle, first attempt to

knock an Egghead out is going to be on the subject of Politics.

Who wants to take this one on?

-I think we send Alex.

-I think I have to, yeah.

And choose an Egghead, as you know, any one of those five.

Who we going for?

Do you want to make it a Manchester-only affair?

-I think I'm going to take a chance on Dave, yeah.

-OK.

Let's make it an all Manchester affair,

I live up there at the moment, so I'd like to take on Dave.

OK, right, an all Manchester affair.

Alex and Dave, you have to go to the Question Room, please.

So Alex, you're not just after the money today,

this is partly personal for you, isn't it?

You've got some family scores to settle.

I do, back in 2008, both of my parents were on Eggheads,

got to the tiebreaker in the final round,

but lost out in a bit of a spectacular duel, but in the end,

yup, they lost, so I've got some family scores to settle.

OK, right, Alex,

do you want to go first or second in this Politics round?

I'll go first, please.

Good luck, Alex. First question is this.

Which former American First Lady

married for a second time on the Greek island of Skorpios in 1968?

I think Jacqueline Kennedy married someone Onassis

and I think he was Greek and around about the 1960s would make sense

as well so I'm going to go for Jacqueline Kennedy.

Jacqueline Kennedy who became Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis,

it's the right answer. Well done, Alex.

And Dave, in which city

was the politician Ed Miliband born?

I know what I should go for. Don't think it's Liverpool.

Don't think it's Lincoln, I think he's a Londoner.

London, you're right, yes. Ed Miliband born in London.

OK, back to you, Alex.

In 1980, Francisco de Sa Carneiro was killed in a plane crash

while serving as Prime Minister of which European country?

Ooh, the name doesn't sound familiar.

I would've thought I would've heard if the Spanish Prime Minister

had died in a plane crash so I'm not sure, I might rule that one out.

Just because I haven't heard of it and I don't know too much

about Maltese politics, I'm going to guess Malta.

OK, Malta, Francisco de Sa Carneiro.

No, it's not the Spanish, it is the Portuguese Prime Minister.

OK, Dave,

chance for the lead, then. After the 2010 general election,

what was the approximate average age of an MP in the House of Commons?

There are a lot of 40-something MPs, I've got to go 40.

I'm going to go the extreme end, because 50 doesn't...

-Hmm. 40.

-OK, 40.

I see there's quite a lot of old ones filling up those back benches

as well which brings the average age up from that to 50.

50, Dave, so right, stays all square, both failing

on the second question. Alex, third question.

Which 19th-century British Prime Minister gained the nickname

Finality Jack earlier in his political career?

This isn't ringing any bells really either. Let me think.

Erm...

I was hoping one of them would be called Jack, that would make it

nice and easy, but maybe, it's a bit stuck,

but John Russell could be Jack Russell, that's all I've got,

I'm going to say Lord John Russell.

Well, do you know that's exactly what I was thinking when you were

saying I wish one of them was called Jack, yes, he is John,

nickname obviously Jack, it's the right answer.

Well done.

Now Dave's got to get this to keep the round alive.

Dave, the former Prime Minister Michael Joseph Savage

is regarded as the architect of the welfare state in which country?

Don't like this one at all. I'm going to rule out South Africa.

Is he a New Zealand Prime Minister or is he an Australian?

I'll go Australia and fall on my sword.

-Get it out of the scabbard, then, it is New Zealand.

-Yep.

That was the other one, I know you were tossing up between them.

It is New Zealand. What a turn around for you, Alex,

family honour restored there in the head-to-head for Alex,

got to take that through to the final round, though,

but you will be playing there for £13,000 today.

Would you both, please, come back and join your teams?

The Bate family avenged there,

Alex getting through to the final round, that means

the Eggheads are missing one brain so far from the final round.

Green Giants haven't lost a single brain from the final round,

let's play our next round, then. Our next subject is Music.

Who wants to play this one? Can't be Alex.

-You're good at this, aren't you?

-Dave, it's yours.

-Dave, I think you've got a good one.

-I don't mind giving it a go.

You know some obscure stuff, I think you should go for it.

-Depends on the questions, doesn't it?

-Who do you fancy taking on?

-That's a good question. Chris?

-I would say Chris.

OK, I'll follow my captain's lead and I'd like to take on Chris, please.

OK, Dave wants to play the Music round from the Green Giants

and he's challenging Chris from the Eggheads.

Will both of you go to the Question Room now, please?

Dave, would you like to go first or second?

I'd like to go first, please, Dermot.

All right, Dave, first question on Music is this.

Which of these features on the soundtrack of the 1971 film

Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory?

Well, Mr Tambourine Man's a Bob Dylan track,

I don't think The Music Man is probably it, so Candy Man would

probably fit in with the movie, so I'd say The Candy Man.

Certainly would, wouldn't it?

It's the right answer, well done, Dave.

Chris, the term

Neapolitan School is sometimes used to describe

a group of composers active in Naples who were particularly

associated with what type of music?

Well, I don't associate Naples with chamber music.

There is Neapolitan folk music like Funiculi, Funicula.

But I think the Neapolitan School were actually concerned with

opera which is more or less an Italian art form. Opera.

It is opera, yes, you're right, Chris.

OK, Dave.

Which of these ABBA songs was a 1976 UK number one single?

Looking at those, I know sort of Thank You For The Music

and Fernando were both a couple of famous ones there,

so I'm toying up between those two.

Erm...

I'll have to take a punt at Fernando.

-Good punt, it's the right answer.

-Yes! Come on, Dave.

OK, Chris.

Under what name did the Swedish DJ Tim Bergling

top the UK singles chart in 2013 with the track Wake Me Up?

Well, the only name there that rings any sort of bell at all

is David Guetta, so that's what I'll have to go with.

-Chris, it's not the right answer, it is Avicii.

-Ha!

OK, no, it's incorrect, not David Guetta

so great opportunity for you, Dave, here.

Which of these is a movement in the Saint-Saens work

The Carnival Of The Animals?

This is going to be a real guess. Um, I'll have to go for the camel.

OK, the camel, Saint-Saens, Carnival Of The Animals.

No. First one wrong.

-Do you know, Chris?

-Yes, the elephant.

It is the elephant, but it wasn't your question and you still need

to get this if you are to continue quizzing in this round.

Chris, Marco Pirroni is best known as the lead guitarist

for which group that had several hits in the 1980s?

Go West only had one hit I believe

or am I confusing it with the song Go West?

Er, which was...

I don't know.

Adam and the Ants, I don't think so. Thompson Twins.

Marx Brothers, 1940. Go West.

-OK, that's Marx Brothers film as well, is it?

-Yeah.

OK, Go West, Marx Brothers, 1940.

Well, you are...

going to return to the Question Room for the final round,

-it's the wrong answer.

-Come on!

-It is Adam And The Ants.

So looking at the scores, Dave,

you're through anyway in spite of your slip up on the third question.

Chris messed up two of them.

So you're in the final round playing for the money today.

Would you both, please, come back and join your teams?

Well, the Green Giants towering over the Eggheads at the moment,

no brains gone from their team.

Two Eggheads gone and barely a question got right, I think.

-Eggheads, how many have you got right?

-Two.

-Out of six?

-Two out of six.

-Good performance, Eggheads.

-Tremendous knowledge.

-Who can beat you?

-THEY LAUGH

Our next subject is Food & Drink.

Can you knock another Egghead out?

Food & Drink. Who wants to play? Kush, Naveed or Max?

Um, from our prior discussions, I think it's going to have to be me.

OK, and who would you like to play from the Eggheads?

Dave and Chris, you've got rid of them so far.

-What about Judith, Pat or Kevin?

-I think we're going to go with Kevin.

-Kevin. Hmm, OK, you've done a bit of research, have you?

-Little bit.

OK, two K's, Kush and Kevin, into the Question Room, please.

-Do you want to go first or second, Kush?

-I think I'll go first.

Food & Drink, first question to Kush.

When making fresh pasta, what ingredient is most typically

included to give the pasta a green colour?

Erm, I don't think it's nettles.

I don't know how much seaweed is used in Italian cooking

so I think I'm going to go for spinach.

OK, spinach if you want it green, it's the right answer.

Well done, Kush, good start. Kevin.

The term locavore refers to someone

who prefers to eat food originating where?

The logic there of course is local so I haven't heard,

I don't think I've heard the term

but I'm assuming it must mean nearby.

It is, yes, nearby, locavore. OK, Kush.

The cut of meat known as lamb shank comes from which part of the animal?

Erm, I don't think it's ribs.

I think I'm going to go towards leg

because I don't think a lamb shank is part of that part of the body

so I'll go with leg.

OK, right, OK, whatever.

Lamb shank is from the leg, yes, it is, yeah. Right, Kevin.

In Spain, what type of food is a fabada?

-F-A-V-A-D-A.

-B. Fabada. F-A-B-A-D-A.

-Oh, a B, sorry.

Fabada, yeah, I'm just being careful because I mean,

you hear fava or faba

and you automatically think of beans.

So given that I haven't heard of it, I think,

if I went for one of the others, I'd really be kicking myself

if it then turned out to be a bean stew so I'm going to have to take

a chance on not falling into a trap and go for the bean stew.

Right, goodness me.

You're like an experienced gambler assessing a...

-Yeah, and probably getting it wrong.

-..handicapped race.

And you've got the right answer, bean stew.

Very careful bit of quizzing there from Kevin.

OK, well, it's all square still.

And Kush, in India,

idlis are most commonly eaten as part of which meal?

I think my mum would kill me if I got this wrong.

I don't think it's lunch, I think it's a breakfast.

OK, that's the correct answer.

OK, which means Kevin needs to get this

or he's going out as well.

Melomakarono are cookies from the cuisine of which country?

That doesn't sound Spanish to me and whilst it could be from Morocco,

it actually sounds Greek to me so I'm going Greece.

It's all Greek to you and melomakarono are Greek,

it's the right answer, it's all square, we go to Sudden Death.

And we take away those choices now, Kush. Here's your question.

A Greedy Man In A Hungry World is a 2013 book

by which food writer and critic?

Er, I'm not sure, um, about different food critic names,

I know one off the top of my head, so I'll try that.

Jay Rayner?

Jay Rayner.

It's the right answer, well done.

You know one food writer and critic and it happens to be Jay Rayner.

Well, excellent stuff, Kush.

Are the stars aligned? Means you've got to get this, Kevin.

The Great Dictionary Of Cuisine, a combination of food encyclopaedia

and cookbook, was a posthumously published work

by which 19th-century French writer?

Well, there are several candidates.

Erm...

-I'll try Antoine Careme.

-OK, Antoine Careme.

I just needed a 19th-century French writer.

Oh, a writer, oh, I'm sorry.

-You've given the answer.

-Oh, it's Balzac probably, is it?

-Well, no, I mean, we're taking Careme...

-Sure, sure.

I know that, but it isn't Balzac either, it's Alexander Dumas.

-Ah. Right, OK.

-DERMOT LAUGHS

See Kush only had one name in his head.

See, you're an Egghead. You've got too many names in your head.

Kush wasn't cluttered there by excess information,

just had the right answer.

Kush, that is a great result, you are through

to the final round, the third Egghead in a row bites the dust

and it's Kevin. It means you're playing for £13,000

and your chances are winning it have just increased, I would suspect.

Would you both, please, come back and join your teams?

As it stands, the Green Giants haven't lost a single brain

from the final round and the Eggheads have lost three in a row.

Our next subject should be a good old battle, it's Arts & Books,

round four, the last head-to-head

and Naveed or Max to play this.

-All right, it'll be me.

-OK.

-And I'll take on, um... Who should I take on?

-What do you think?

-I think you should go for Judith.

-Take Pat!

I'm going to go for Pat, I'm overruling you, sorry.

Ooh, OK, overruling the captain

and going for the jugular I heard you saying.

Well, let's have Naveed and Pat into the Question Room, please.

OK, Naveed, let's get on with this, it's getting very serious, isn't it?

A real chance here. Do you want to go first or second, Naveed?

-Arts & Books.

-I shall go first. It's been a good tactic so far.

Good luck and your first question.

In the novel Wuthering Heights, which character repeatedly

bangs his head against a tree when he learns of Cathy's death?

Not a big fan of Wuthering Heights, I've never read it

or been compelled to. I think...

Mr Darcy is from a Jane Austen novel.

Kate Bush informs me that Heathcliff is in Wuthering Heights

so I shall choose that option.

Yes, using Kate Bush there to get the right answer, yes, Heathcliff.

Mr Rochester in Jane Eyre, of course.

-OK...

-DERMOT LAUGHS

Well done, Naveed. Doesn't matter how you get them.

Pat, which of these characters lives in a children's home

she calls the dumping ground?

I think...

..that Jacqueline Wilson's Tracy Beaker,

I think she lives in a slightly grim, um, home, um...

I don't know anything about Mary Plain,

Nancy Drew is an American creation.

I'll go for Tracy Beaker.

OK, Tracy Beaker in the dumping ground, it's the right answer.

You're both off to a good start, back to you, Naveed.

Tamara Rojo found fame as a leading name in which field?

Ooh.

I have no idea about the person

and I'm not particularly well schooled in any of those subjects,

so this will be a blind guess and I'm going to stab at ballet.

-Good guess, it's the right answer.

-Yes!

Yeah, you see, your guesses

have been landed today, all of you going really well,

luck staying with you. See if it deserts Pat.

Which English playwright wrote The Hothouse?

Hmm. Dear me.

I haven't heard of the play, I've heard of all three playwrights

but I haven't heard of the play.

I'm reduced to a one in three guess, I think.

Doesn't ring a Pinter bell.

-I'll go for Ronald Harwood...

-OK.

-..with great trepidation.

-It's Harold Pinter.

-It's Pinter? Just hadn't heard of it.

Well, Naveed, get this,

you're in the final round.

Chance Wayne is a central character in which play by Tennessee Williams?

I've only heard of two of those plays being by Tennessee Williams,

they might all be.

Streetcar and Cat On A Hot Tin Roof.

I don't think he's in A Streetcar Named Desire simply because...

..it's quite a famous play and I haven't heard of him.

So I'll go for Cat On A Hot Tin Roof.

OK, Cat On A Hot Tin Roof,

kind of describes Judith at the moment really.

It's not the right answer. It is Sweet Bird Of Youth.

But Pat still needs to get this to take us into Sudden Death.

Pat, in the summer of 2013, a blue sculpture of what

type of creature was placed on the fourth plinth at Trafalgar Square?

I think it's by a German sculptress.

I think it's a cockerel.

It is the right answer, Pat, yes, a giant blue cockerel.

You're back in the round.

OK, still very much everything to play for, Naveed,

we go for Sudden Death again. Here's your question.

The actress Ellen Turin

was the mistress of which English writer who died in 1870?

So I'm searching my mind for English writers...

who were Victorian.

I believe Charles Dickens had an affair so I'm going to go for him.

OK, Charles Dickens.

-It's the right answer, Naveed.

-Yes!

-Well done.

Pat, which author introduced the character Jackson Brody,

a former police inspector turned private investigator,

in her 2004 novel Case Histories?

I have heard her name, but it just hasn't sprung to mind.

Denise Mina's novels are very much Glasgow based

so I think I'll discount her.

I don't think it's Val McDermid,

she's Wire In The Blood and things like that.

I owe it to Judith to make the maximum effort to

dig this woman's surname up, but a minute chance of being correct

is better than a zero chance of being correct.

-I'll go for Val McDermid, but I think I'm wrong.

-Val McDermid.

-What do you think, Eggheads?

-Think it might be Kate Atkinson.

It's not the right answer, Pat, it's Kate Atkinson.

ALL: Yes!

-Oh, lordy.

-Oh, Judith, prepare yourself.

Prepare yourself, Naveed, you're playing for £13,000

along with the entirety of your team today.

Would you both come back and join your teams?

Well, this is what we've been playing towards,

it's time for the final round in which whatever happens

it's going to be one to savour and as usual, it's General Knowledge

but I'm afraid those of you who lost your head-to-heads

should only look this way.

You won't be allowed to take part in this round so Chris, Pat, Dave

and Kevin from the Eggheads, would you all leave the studio, please?

Kush, Alex, Dave, Naveed and Max,

you're playing to win the Green Giants £13,000.

Judith, you're playing for something which money can't buy -

the Eggheads' rather endangered reputation.

And as usual, I ask each team three questions in turn.

This time, this questions are all General Knowledge

and you are allowed to confer. So, Green Giants, the question is,

are your five brains better than the Eggheads' one?

And Green Giants, would you like to go first or second?

I think we'll stick to the winning formula, let's go first, Dermot.

Go for the money, Green Giants, what a shot you've got at it.

First question, how many categories of question were there

in the original version of the board game Trivial Pursuit?

If you're making a pie, it's sort of three and three.

-That's the only way it could fit.

-I think it's six.

-I would say six.

-Yeah?

-I'm happy with that.

Think we'll go with six.

OK, six. It is the right answer, six is correct. One on the board.

Judith...

Gateleg is a variety of which of these items of furniture?

That is a table.

It is a table, yes, well done. OK, eased both sides in there, I think.

And Green Giants, what type of creature is a megrim? M-E-G-R-I-M.

I don't know this. Anyone have any ideas?

-No.

-I've never heard of it.

Guess I'd say it sounds like a shrimp which is underwater.

-Could be some kind of species of horse.

-Really?

I don't think it is a horse.

-Statistics would say fish.

-Go fish?

-Gamble on fish?

Let's go for fish.

We'll go for fish.

OK, a megrim you think is a form of fish. Some type of fish.

It's the right answer.

Every time you've had to guess or go for a bit of a gamble,

you have landed them. Is your luck going to hold out?

OK, Judith, you're got to match that, then.

London Gateway is a service station on which motorway?

London Gateway.

I don't think it's the M4, because I know the M4 quite well.

I don't see why it should be the M6,

because the M6 is up in the north on the west side.

On the other hand, I can't think of it on the M1 near London.

I think I've got to go for the M1, because that's the one

that goes into London.

-Yeah, that's my answer.

-M1.

-M1.

-M1.

-Please.

Well, you eliminated, you're right, the M6.

It's called London Gateway, you know the M4, it's not there,

it is the M1, it's the right answer, well done, Judith. Well worked out.

OK, well, Judith putting up a real fight there.

The Green Giants still landing those guesses, informed guesses of course.

OK, will you win the money on this question?

What was the real first name of Duckface,

the character played by Anna Chancellor in the 1994 film

Four Weddings And A Funeral?

I've never actually seen Four Weddings And A Funeral.

-Neither have I.

-I have.

Unfortunately this might rely on me. I don't think it's Simone.

Can you picture it? Can you seen Duckface?

Do you know who it is?

I can picture the face, but I can't put the name to it.

But if I think I'm going to guess, I think I would say Georgina, Max.

-Well...

-Is everyone all right with that?

We don't have anything else, do we? Go for it.

We're going to go for Georgina.

OK, Georgina.

Duckface memorably played by Anna Chancellor in

Four Weddings And A Funeral,

Kush is the only one of the five who's seen it.

And it's Henrietta.

Misremembered. Henrietta.

Every guess, every inkling has been landed so far.

Judith, I'm not going to underline how important this is.

What type of creatures were Hullabaloo and Custard,

the launch mascots of BBC Two?

If you're going to have mascots for a channel, broadcasting,

I think you'll be more likely to go for parrots, to be honest.

I don't know.

-So I'm going to go for parrots.

-OK, parrots.

Hullabaloo and Custard were...

-..kangaroos.

-Oh, no!

They can't be kangaroos.

Judith's chance to save the Eggheads didn't happen.

Why on earth are they kangaroos?

Well, you live to fight on,

fighting for that £13,000.

It's Sudden Death of course. Your question, Green Giants.

In British history, who ascended the throne on the death of Queen Anne?

I think it's George I, because she didn't have kids.

I think I'm relying on you guys for this one.

-I think it is George I.

-It's worth a stab.

Queen Anne was there when the UK was made,

the Union was made in 1707 and George I came after that.

-That sounds good, then.

-Go with that logic.

-I'm happy with that, it's the best.

-Go with it, Max.

We'll go for George I.

George I you think ascended the throne on the death of Queen Anne.

What do you think, Judith?

-Yeah, it's right.

-They're right.

-Bother!

Yep, George I.

OK, right, you're heading

in the right direction again, which means Judith has to get this one.

Judith, "You had me at hello", is a famous line from which 1990s film?

I could sit here all night and not been able to think.

-I think Sleepless In Seattle.

-Sleepless In Seattle.

"You had me at hello", is a line from...

Jerry Maguire.

-ALL: Yes!

-Green Giants, you've won the money!

Well, I said it was going to be extraordinary, didn't I?

And it certainly has been.

In the previous occasions when the Eggheads have been whittled

down to one, it happened seven times before this, they won six of them.

-So well done, guys. How does that feel?

-Really good!

-Stunned.

-It was surprising!

Well done, Green Giants,

our congratulations to you, you've just won that £13,000,

making you officially cleverer than the Eggheads

and you've proven it with four of them sitting

in the Question Room after the head-to-heads.

Won every single round, five rounds in a row.

Join us next time on Eggheads

to see if a new team of Challengers will be just as successful.

Until then - phew! - goodbye.